Cell's Return
by Anniarchy
Summary: Perfection may not actually exist, but ingenuity definitely does. The non-sentient cells of Cell have evolved into a sentient being and brought Cell back to life. But he requires food for evolving, and a biology student finds him in his larval form and decides to take care of him. Will Cell learn something new about humans during his metamorphosis phase?
1. Chapter 1

Very much like Cooler's return, one other major enemy has been brought back to life after years of being dead. This is primarily due to an evolutionary trait modified by the scientific workings that were brought about by Dr. Gero. Because the creature that is Cell has existed for so long with multiple DNA strands, the constant regeneration of the cells morphed the DNA into an entirely new strand and only holds the genetic traits of his half-siblings. It is as if he became something else on a molecular level, and he no longer gives off individual energy auras, but a completely new one that is his own.

Of course, he isn't _perfect_. Not anymore.

Once Gohan had successfully turned Cell into a pile of cinders, it still left traces of his DNA within those cinders. Like a fire that took down a forest, it created a fertile breeding ground for those cells, as they combined and mutated over the years. It took until around Beerus' visit to Earth that he emerged from an egg as an amphibious, insectoid larva.

His energy level was very small, very much like any other ordinary animal, but he was at least able to retain memory of not just his fight with Gohan, but memories of the afterlife as well. After all, souls tend to hold onto memories, and with Cell having a fresh start in life with the same soul, he was able to retain all of it, especially since his mind didn't limit his subconscious enough to where he'd have vague feelings of déjà vu that only hinted at a past life or afterlife.

Like any other small animals, he had to eat something. He looked about his surroundings after pushing off the last bit of the eggshell. _Huh_ , he thought, _I don't recall my egg being so leather-like. I distinctly remember it being pink and shell-like. This evolutionary trait must have felt I was better off in the soft shell. I was in the ground after all._

His stomach growled as he tried to figure out what he should eat. His tongue moved about in his mouth, trying to get an idea of what kind of life form he is right now in order to figure out what he's capable of eating. Dirt came to mind, with all of its minerals, but his pride wouldn't allow it. No teeth but a tongue meant he was more of an amphibian, so he had to eat bugs. And he knew right away that this way of living was going to become a pain in the ass real quick.

Of course, he knew this wouldn't last long. He needed energy in order to grow. _Metamorphosis_ , he thought as he munched on a beetle, _That's the answer. I just wish it would hurry up. I guess I'll have to grin and bear it. You can't rush perfection._

Again: he's deluded himself into believing that he truly is a perfect being. He's alive again, creeping back into the existence of the living world where his enemies lie. That's perfection, right?

He nearly choked on that beetle while harshly swallowing it out of anger for allowing himself to doubt the possibility of perfection. That just simply would not do. He's perfect. He's perfect in absolutely every way possible. There's no way he's _not_ perfect because he's been told since he was a fetus in a vat that he was perfect!

Despite the dying part hindering his consciousness, he did have a really neat new feature that his new life gave him: organic virtual reality. Sort of. He was able to read the temperature and vitals of animals around him with his eyes, able to see the heart rate and the hormone levels of the fauna around him. It still gave him the feeling of "I know I'm an android" while being a member of the fauna among the flora himself.

After eating for days what bugs he could catch and eat, he managed to grow no bigger than the size of a rat, which angered him because _insects are so damned hard to catch. Why don't the little bastards hold still! If only they could communicate, I would tell them that their sacrifice would be going towards a greater good of perfection!_

He crawled through the grass with his thoughts occupying his mind. _Those words sounded so simplified. Perhaps it's because I'm in the infant stage of my metamorphosis. What I wouldn't_ _ **give**_ _for some sufficient energy in the form of food. Why I would-Oof!_

He walked right into a stack of books in the grass. That's what he gets for not paying attention to where he's going. There was a moment of deep and frightening regret because if he's that easily distracted by his thoughts, he'll never pass the larval stage alive. Good thing all it was were just- _textbooks? Hmm... Entomology 101, Botany, Ornithology... These look like college-level textbooks. Is there a student beyond this stack?_

Lo and behold, there was. A young woman sat beyond the stack of textbooks on a laptop eating a rather hearty-looking sandwich. A peculiar woman at that. What's with that hair? A mohawk? Grown out and pulled back? _Well, it's original, and very red. And the tattoos.. Perhaps she's either a very tasteful person in admiration of the arts, a masochist for how much ink that's been scratched onto her epidermis, or both... That food she has looks really tasty._ His mind went from careful analysis to the biology student to wanting the food she has. And he hated it. He felt like an animal. He can't be an animal! He's perfect! But so is that sandwich...

 _I'm getting that sandwich whether she likes it or not!_ He marches his four little legs up to her, but the moment she looks at him, he freezes. Suddenly he realizes how huge she was compared to him, and began to assess that simply walking right up to her was a very bad idea.

The woman's eyebrows raised as she pushed her glasses up her nose a bit, "Well, what are you, little guy?"

 _I can't move! I can't move! I CAN'T MOVE!_

Despite his legs not allowing him to scurry away, he did jump when she held a piece of her sandwich out to him, "I have no idea what you are, but I'd bet you're more interested in my food than my books."

Two little hands snatch the piece away and he started to scarf it down. _Oh my, this is WONDERFUL! Why didn't I bother trying food in my past life? No. NO! I mustn't give into such carnal desires to keep eating unless it's to evolve more! I'm supposed to be PERFECT!_

The little larva jumped when she bent down to get a closer look at him, "I cannot tell if you're an amphibian or an insect." She reaches out to touch him for observation, but he bit her. He has no beak or teeth, so it did nothing but amuse her, and she lifted him off the ground with a little laugh, "That's not food, cutie-pie. That's my finger. Here, have some more of the sandwich."

He took it, puzzled, but ate it nonetheless. _Thank whatever lucky stars that I may or may not have that this woman cares about any specimen she comes across. It beats hunting for impossible-to-catch insects all day. And this food gives me lots of energy._

After finishing a thesis she seemed to have been editing on her laptop, she clicks the "send" button to submit it to her school's website, then shuts it off and puts it in her bag. She wanted to turn her full attention to this miscellaneous critter and continued to examine him, "I have never seen anything like you before. You seem pretty healthy and harmless."

 _Pfft, ha! Harmless. If she only_ _ **knew**_ _..._

"I think I'll take you home. I've got more books in my apartment. I might be able to find some answers there just as to what you are."

 _Now there's an idea. If I play pet for this woman, I'll be able to gain the energy I need, evolve to my perfect form, and then blow everyone away! All I have to do is be her pet for a little while longer-_

Not like he had a choice, since his thoughts were interrupted by her standing with him in her hands. And as if being handled by a pair of hands wasn't awkward enough, he now realized he had to deal with being in a container on the back of her bike. Luckily it was secure and have slits in the lid for air, but he knew he might experience a bit of psychological trauma in this predicament, and he hoped it was worth it.

But surprisingly enough, this Biology student took it easy with the bike. It was foot-powered, and judging by her accent, the logo on the bike, and her attire, she looked like she was from America.

 _Ah yes. America. Land of the delusional. Chances are nobody from America except their power-hungry government has heard of me. That country is close to being the next North Korea. At least America has advanced beyond the era of floppy disks._ He paid close attention to the surroundings that she was biking through. _Looks like I'm still in Japan, which is good since I'm rather familiar with this country. I feel like I've travelled to Europe from how much walking and hunting I've done._

The changes of style and common use of technology perplexed him when he had a chance to observe at red lights. He suddenly became very self-conscious of the motor vehicles, fearing that there might be a fight for road dominance between vehicles. This would put the Biology student in danger, and thus promptly crushing any hopes and dreams of him becoming perfect once again. All is lost, and he awaited his inevitable doom of someone crashing into her, shattering the container he's in, and getting stepped on by a common human.

 _Am I having a panic-attack?_

Not a limb would move on him. All he could do was sway his body for balance with the turns and momentum of the bike. His thorax throbbed with his pounding heart as he either couldn't breathe or was breathing too much, he couldn't tell.

 _Oh thank goodness she turned off the main road._

He calmed down some as he watched her take some suburban roads. The ride was a bit bumpier, but it's obvious she's taken this road before. He'd rather rely on her routine than someone else deciding to be a jack-ass with their environmentally unsafe machines. Now that he brought that thought up, he realized how it was easier for him to breath not being around car exhaust fumes.

The student rolled up to an apartment complex. It was two-story, and she lived on the second floor. With one hand, she carried the container her new little critter-friend was in, and carried the bike up the steps with the other as best as she could.

Once inside, his eyes immediately adjusted to the dim lighting. The blinds were down, and the student flipped a light switch, which illuminated a studio apartment.

 _She lives in a closet? What kind of low-wage job is she working at? Then again, she is from America. Maybe she transferred here not long ago? At least she's not too terrible being a minimalist for an American._

Then again, she could be paying for over-priced market-rates for bedbug-infested living spaces with poor-to-no maintenance or upkeep. This will have to do. And if he must be left in the apartment while she goes to class or work, then so be it. He could explore and find out more about this student while raiding the kitchenette. It would be a pain in the ass, but he must have that energy, and food is the only way he can have it.

Much to his surprise, he didn't need to brace himself when she set the container down. She takes more care of discovered and collected specimens than he gave her credit for. He watched her walk away from the desk she'd set him on and walk over to the bathroom. This gave him a chance to look about the little apartment to get an idea as to what this woman is like.

Well, for one thing, she certainly had an interesting book collection. A couple spoke of Nikola Tesla's work, some were books on anarchism and feminism, and a nice selection of human sexuality. Then moving from the informative shelves to the ones containing fiction, he saw some that rung some bells and others he did not hear of before. Which he couldn't blame anyone since he'd been dead for nearly a decade. Interesting that she holds some of Tolkein's work while having other translations of _Beowulf_ as well. An aspiring scientific student with a love for fantasy is an interesting mix of interests. He imagined impressing her in his perfect form; her witnessing the brilliant evolution that he takes part in as well as flying and lighting things up like a wizard. And then killing her.

No time to plot killing her, though. Have to be familiar with surroundings. Have to understand how one can get from point A to point B and when. Have to make sure one is able to have readily access to food.

He then looks around her desk, seeing nothing much except a cup to hold pencils and pens, a printer, and some drawer handles he can barely see over the edge of the desk. The laptop must be for the large space his container currently occupies. That would be in her backpack, which is on her bed, covered with stickers of miscellaneous superheroes and monsters.

There was a small, flatscreen television on a table directly across from the bed, and a gaming console with an "x" encircled on it. The cases to the right of it must be the games, and on top of it laid its controller. Not many games, though. This could be for when she's too sick to fiddle on the computer or for whatever downtime she may get between semesters when she's not working wherever she's working.

A thought occurred: _I need to find out her name in case I get separated for some horrifying reason. What's this woman's name? Where can I find her name?_

He saw her come out of the bathroom carrying an aquarium, and felt a bit of respect when he noticed she talks to him and treats him somewhat of a person instead of a specimen to be studied and tested upon.

"Sorry, had to clean this out. I was going to keep some frogs in here, but this weird spotted turquoise one with the red eyes I found isn't at the park anymore. Lucky you, huh?"

 _Yes... Lucky me._

"Now don't think I'm gonna keep you cooped up in here. You'll only go in here when I'm not home or when it's time for bed. And don't think I'll leave you alone while you sleep. I'll be in my bed next to you!"

 _Oh goodie..._

She moves him in the container onto her bed for a moment while she sets up her aquarium on the desk and starts to prepare the terrain for it. But he happened to glance over at her bag and noticed her student ID was poking out.

 _Oh come on! The stupid magazine is in the way! I have to see her name! What's her name?!_

And he's equally mad at himself for letting such a thing bother him so much. But her elbow bumped the bag which pushed the magazine toward the bottom, and the ID was left exposed.

 _Finally! Goula Brew. Well then, Miss Brew, you are about to care for and raise a perfect being!_

He watched her complete in preparing the terrain, even giving him a heating rock and a place to take a bath, considering his water and food dish are completely separate from the little tiny pond she made for him. Not bad for something she originally reserved for an oddly-described frog.

He still wasn't used to the idea of giant hands picking him up, although he did appreciate the fact that Goula was very careful with him. But he didn't go immediately in the terrain. He was put on the desk, and the food and water dishes came out. She was going to feed him outside of his comfortable prison.

He was amazed at how thorough she was in making sure she was taking good care of him from the start, because she provided him with different foods in his dish. A small tomato, a couple of blueberries, a tiny piece of fish, and a tiny piece of chicken. Just about all of the essential food groups are displayed. But she also brought out a cricket with tweezers. It was alive, as well. But he didn't want to resort to insects again. This people-food she was sharing would provide him with far more nutrition and energy than a bug about a quarter of his size. He then decided to make his point by eating everything but the cricket. In fact, he pushed the cricket out of the dish and out of the tweezers with his hand.

"Guess you don't like crickets, then."

 _No shit._

"Well then, fruits, veggies, and meats it is."

Cell grew to the size of a cat within a week. He was able to get around the dinky apartment and Goula couldn't keep him in his terrain anymore. He ended up free-ranging throughout the entire apartment, and made no attempt to escape.

He had deduced that if he left, he would have no guaranteed food supply. Staying with this Biology student would ensure him a constant, steady food supply, and because she's from America, even if he were to reach his final, perfect form, she would not know who he is, which would mean this is the easiest way for him to complete his metamorphosis in hiding.

But being a little pet, despite his pride, had its perks- _because_ of his pride. Being a pet meant that he would be pampered on occasion. And because he couldn't be kept in his terrain, he wouldn't really be able to bathe himself with her tub, which meant she would bathe him. She did so every couple of days but without soap, and used an old, soft-bristled toothbrush. It felt good on his exoskeleton, and he felt more refreshed afterwards than when he bathed himself in the aquarium. He also got larger portions of food.

Oh, that's another problem. The food. Despite having a guaranteed supply, it couldn't be much like it used to when comparing the size and portion ratio. She is a struggling college student, and could only afford so much. Goula had to compromise what she would usually get for herself like the occasional candy bar in order to make sure he was well-fed. She was grateful he didn't chew or tried to eat anything else but the food she gave him, and was thankful that his body absorbed everything he ate so there was no worries in house-training him.

He stayed out of trouble while she was out at work or in class, and by "staying out of trouble", this meant nothing was messed up or broken. Cell had to avoid the urge of sneaking food, because his caretaker needed sustenance in order to keep him fed and pampered.

 _Really, though. I probably should spare her. Having a little slave doesn't sound like such a bad idea._

One day while she was out working, he roamed around the apartment and came across some sort of contraption. He couldn't make out what it was. It doesn't seem to be electric or an appliance. It was large, wooden with some stickers on it depicting activism, and it had strings. It was hollow. He carefully touched a string, poking at it, not sure what this thing was. Then his fingertip slipped and the string made a sound, which startled him and caused him to jump back.

 _What on Earth_ _ **is**_ _this thing?_

He scuttled over to the bed, climbed up the blanket onto it, hopped from the end of the bed onto the desk and got a better look at it.

 _Oh, I see what that is. It's what humans call a "guitar." This one would be considered an acoustic guitar. That's strange. I haven't seen her mess with it. I'd explore the internet to find out what's with all of this obsession with "music", but she took her laptop with her._

He waddled over to the stack of papers on the side of her desk and decided to go through them as a way of occupying his time. He saw a thesis paper and examined it. In the top right corner, he saw the name of the teacher.

 _Bulma Briefs? She's a college professor? If my memory stands correct, she's Vegeta's wife and Trunks' mother. I hope she isn't the type of student who becomes best friends with teachers. I don't need anyone discovering I'm alive just yet._

Only half an hour before Goula is usually home from class. This would be an eternity to a little critter like him.

 _Time to explore again!_

He hops down onto the chair and then onto the floor. He's large enough now that jumping down like that isn't quite so scary. But he'd explored all week, so it's difficult to find uncharted territory in this apartment. Except, of course, under the bed.

 _What's under here? Shoes, a couple of long-forgotten magazines... What's this box? It looks like it's wrapped with lingerie._

Cell's little hands grabs it and he tries to pull it out, which failed, so he ended up pushing it out. Once it was out from beneath the bed, he opened it up. It opened up almost like a tackle box, and had very questionable things inside. A chain with what looked like adjustable tweezers on each end, and various phallic objects inside. All of which were rather colorful.

 _What in the world does she keep in here? What's this bottle over here? Water-based vegan lubricant? Well that makes sense because the vagi-OH MY GOODNESS, MY CARETAKER IS A NYMPHOMANIAC AND THESE ARE..._

He quickly shuts the case and shoves it back under the bed as if something was about to reach out and snag him. His little heart beating at a million miles an hour, he felt his face flush.

 _Wait a minute, why am I flustered over discovering my caretaker's sex toys? It's perfectly reasonable seeing as how she has absolutely no time for a mate and needs to satisfy her urges with objects made of safe materials. I'm a biological android that can kill people, for crying out loud! Why would I ever be embarrassed to find such things under this woman's bed?! Could Dr. Gero have programmed the illogical and puritanical shame and social stigma of female sexuality into my system? All that is is just distracting! That's not perfect at all! That old goat probably couldn't attract a woman even with enhanced phermones. It was a disappointment meeting him in Hell. I'll show him! I am going to pull that box out, open it up, and stare at the erotic contents within it just to spite the old bastard!_

So he dove back under the bed and shoved the box out and opened it. Nearly burying his face into it he stares at it. He felt that feeling again of embarrassment and guilt, but he painfully kept his eyes on the brightly-colored vibrators.

 _Nope. I will_ _ **not**_ _avert my eyes because of these illogical feelings! I should not care whether or not these have stimulated her erogenous zones and bring her to climax! Her masturbation-filled sex-life is_ _ **her**_ _business and-Okay maybe this is a bit rude. Perfect people are most certainly_ _ **not**_ _rude on any social level. Killing people is one thing, but privacy is another. She probably found this as a perfect hiding spot and I may have just compromised it. I'd best put it back the way I found it._

Once again, he closes the lingerie-designed caboodle and pushes it back under the bed with care this time, positioning it just as he'd found it before exiting the underbelly of the sleeping regions and returning to lamenting over what to do for the last ten minutes of his time alone in the apartment.


	2. Chapter 2

By the third week of living reluctantly as a pet, Cell grew to the size of an average-height dog. He even began sleeping with Goula in her bed. This was mainly to keep warm while he slept. Being cold resulted in taking longer to fully wake up.

Cell's mind was almost a literal database of pre-programmed information of all sorts, including basic human biology. He didn't have much on emotion, psychology, or sociology, though. That being said, while he was aware that women menstruate, he had never witnessed a woman go through menstruation. So he understood why he woke up to the smell of blood from his caretaker, but he didn't realize how much it _really_ varied from woman to woman.

Goula woke up and felt agony almost immediately. Her hand cradled her pelvis as she got out of bed, her breathing already slightly labored. Cell's sensors carefully monitored her vitals. Lots of cramping detected as well as an increase in nerve activity. This meant she was under a lot of pain already and she had just started her period.

Cell watched her stagger to the bathroom. His curiosity kept him from lazing about for the morning, so he hopped out of bed and followed her in. Because he's seen as an impressive pet and not another human being, she felt no judgment going to the bathroom with the door open, or showering or changing in his presence. Taking care of herself while she menstruates shouldn't be any different to her. To him, however, it was an educational moment of witnessing a woman's natural reproductive cycle.

He props himself on his hind legs just a bit to get a good look at the inside of her underwear from afar. He'd curiously looked at her discharge the other week when he was perched on the side of the sink. Now he got to see blood-human blood-something he hasn't seen in a long time.

Blood exposure without injury always fascinated him, even when people got nosebleeds from pure stress or pressure changes. This was an unavoidable, naturally occurring cycle, and he got to see it for the first time. He kept repeating that in his head because it was a brand new experience for him. A nice break from the usual terrorizing of humans or dealing with idiots in Hell.

The clots were already coming out-chunks of endometrium rich with expired nutrients for a potential fetus. Due to the absence of coitus, there would be no embryonic forms this month. He was tempted to lick up the clot that laid in her underwear, but knew this was a socially unacceptable thing even for pets, and he refrained from doing so, despite nutrition through blood would probably help quite a bit.

The biology student takes some toilet paper and does her best to clean out her underwear, then reaches over to a drawer. He backs out of the way and watched her bring out a drawstring pouch.

 _That looks nothing like a disposable feminine hygiene product. This must be something new. Reusable, perhaps?_

Out came a strange-looking cup with a stem on it. His sensors indicated it was made of soft, medical-grade silicone. After wiping herself, she folded the cup a certain way for easier insertion and stuck it up inside of her vagina, adjusting accordingly so it was able to create a suction around her cervix. Then she removed her panties and grabbed a clean spare from the drawer and put them on, stood up-though not fully since standing straight up caused her pain-and she pulled her pants up and flushed.

 _What a peculiar little device. But genius for someone who doesn't want to waste money on an ineffective, disgusting product. I don't blame her for not wanting to sit in her own filth. She seems to be in enough pain and discomfort to where she hardly looks at me. She's more focused on laying about or eating something unhealthy just because she doesn't have the strength to move! My sensors indicate that there is a lack of blood-flow to her feet and lower legs, and a slight reduction of blood flow in her arms. This really does take a lot out of her, and with her hormones adjusting to the new cycle, it's no wonder her bodily functions won't stay the same for ten seconds._

He saw how she barely moved, and heard her stomach growl but she was too weak to get up. So he goes into the kitchen, opens the fridge, grabs the box of blueberries, and closes the fridge before scurrying over to her. He handed her the box and nudged them to her, emphasizing she needs to eat something and that he was willing to help.

She smiles and took the box, opening it and eating one. She grabs a second blueberry and holds it out to him.

 _No no no! Not me! Don't share! You need to eat, woman!_ He pushes her hand back to her.

"You don't want any? Okay", she ate it and kept eating. He kept bringing food back to her-a bag of baby carrots, a small jar of assorted nuts, even a bag of chips, which was a snack she bought for him.

Once she'd eaten enough, she laid there in agony. No longer will food help get her mind off of the agonizing cramps, and he noticed the bloating occurring due to the menses, not the food.

 _Damn it. What else is there that I can do for her? She needs adequate rest and if she is in a bad psychological state, it could hinder her overall health, and I need a healthy caretaker until I'm ready to emerge from this larval state! Wait a second. I_ _ **may**_ _be able to scrape my pronotum against my mesonotum and create stridulation. Cricket noises sometimes are a soothing sound for humans. I might be able to create something similar to that. I just hope it's not too loud._

He had to check to see if he had the musculature control over those regions first, which luckily he did. He maneuvered his back and readied for more vibrant movement and tried to become a rather large cricket for her. The sound he managed to create was like an owl imitating the chirps of a cricket. _That doesn't sound so bad._

Goula looked to him in confusion. More stridulation. This time he swayed himself a little back and forth and cocked his head. He kept thinking to himself, _I have to be cute so she knows I'm not trying to show dominance or trying to threaten her. This is acting cute... Right?_

"I have no idea if you smell my blood and are trying to perform a courtship dance or what", she responded. He fell over after hearing that. _That was_ _ **nothing**_ _what I was planning to do!_ But she smiled and told him, "It's cute, whatever you're doing."

With the desire to emphasize on the cuteness level he wanted to achieve for her comfort, he climbed up onto her bed and nuzzled himself against her, making that soft, "looling" noise. She wrapped her arms around him and cuddled him, which is something she avoided doing before because she wasn't sure if she would accidentally anger him or not.

 _Good. At least I'm able to put her in a better psychological situation. Wait... Are those her breasts? They certainly_ _ **feel**_ _huge compared to the last few times I've slept against them! My sensors are picking up slight swelling due to hormonal activity. This is absolutely ridiculous what these female creatures have to go through! They're-they're so_ _ **cozy**_ _. They're the softest things I've ever..._

He looked up at her and noticed how she fell asleep already. He softened his "looling" to silence and remained in her arms.

 _So. This is cuddling. It's not bad. And whether or not she likes it, I'm using her breasts as my personal pillows because what she has us sleeping on just simply won't do. I need a specific level of softness in order for me to get a good night's sleep. These will do just fine for a nap._

 _These are perfect._

He laid there in silence on that very phrase that went through his mind and felt odd about saying something like that about someone else's body parts.

 _I better not have any odd dreams..._

It was a long, agonizing week for the both of them. Cell had to practically begin fasting because Goula couldn't move much for the first few days, and then she was behind in getting groceries and was in no shape to go out and carry some home from the market. But once things eased up on her body towards the end of her cycle, she managed to run out and buy some more food, carrying almost more than she was able to handle.

Cell, of course, was eager to help put away groceries when she got home, putting some food aside to signify "hey, I wish to eat this" and even helping the biology student cook. Fried vegetables and mushrooms were on the menu tonight, and they were both eating good.

He was thankful that he didn't have to track down Androids 17 and 18 and he could just eat his way to perfection, but it would be a pain in the ass because he'd like to do it sooner. Unfortunately, these menstrual cycles are going to put a damper on a regularly scheduled diet plan, and he was unable to verbally communicate at the moment.

 _That's right. What am I going to do when I_ _ **do**_ _manage to achieve my imperfect form? I will look completely different than I do now. It'll frighten her. She may not know who I am but when she realizes I'm not some new species of amphibian or arthropod, she will not take to it as easily as she's taking to my growth. I need to think of an excuse-a lie. Something she'll buy without question. But I don't want to say that I'm an alien. It's too easy. I'll half-lie. I'll say I'm someone's pet project that was abandoned until she found me. Yeah, that's it. It's perfect!_

He was sort of abandoned, though. Gero only recorded his voice to talk to the fetus and brainwash it. It didn't seem like anything in the lab was there to help take care of him. He had to do all of this survival stuff by himself. It would have been nice to be taken care of by someone in such a vulnerable state.

 _Ooooh no. No no no. I am_ _ **not**_ _going to allow myself to have some weird mommy-issue. However, I will admit that it would be nice to be genuinely appreciated every once in a while. No "thank yous" or "I'm proud of yous" from Gero. All I got was, "You're a disappointment, too! What a waste!" I don't use the upper scale profane words much at all, but fuck him. I don't need his approval!_

His size finally grew to that of a large dog, and Goula began to worry about that, "I love taking care of you and learning about you, but I'm afraid of you becoming too big to hide or keep in here. I'm actually more afraid that some hidden-away instinct is gonna kick in and you might try to hurt me."

 _Ha! Close. But the more I think about it, the more I just might make you my little slave, instead._

"I mean, what if you become an adult rather quickly and will mate with anything you see?"

 _Oh give me some credit, woman! Well, I can't really blame her. Such animals do exist, and I don't want her fearing me to the point where she'll try to get rid of me. Maybe if I combined some characteristics of a cat and dog, I might be able to annunciate that I don't see her as a potential mate._

The occasional rubbing against her legs with the looling noises and wagging his tail some did get the message across that he doesn't see her as a mate. Which he was relieved of that, thank goodness. Can't risk her trying to get rid of him. He still needs her for the steady food supply.

 _I can feel that I'm about to move to my next stage of metamorphosis soon. It would be wonderful if she were around to witness such a transformation; have her marvel at the amazing creature I truly am. Of course, I'll have to avoid insulting her. I don't want her to see me as a threat of any sort._


	3. Chapter 3

**My apologies for the slight hiatus before getting chapters 2 and 3 up. Had some issues regarding life I had to tend to.**

 **PS: I threw this chapter together real quick with no revision as an apology for making you wait. So I wrote this the same day I posted it.**

The android was in the process of entering a pupa stage as his body began to harden and he began to move less and less. He was nearly as big as she was, perhaps a bit bigger, though still crawling about on all fours. Soon, he would emerge into his perfect form, and have better use over his limbs to better his life as he tries to once again achieve perfection.

A knock at the door. Goula looked up from reading a book before closing it. She seemed confused considering it was the middle of the night. Perhaps somebody needed her help? She called through the door, "Who is it?"

There was no answer. Just the door being kicked open by a couple of strange men. Common thieves, perhaps? Their faces spoke otherwise. Not just thieves looking to make ends meet. Only robbers with ill-intentions.

One of them had a look on his face as a predator would on its prey when he saw her, "Well, now. Looks like we're going to have some fun while raiding this dump after all."

Goula grabbed her guitar in hopes it would make a decent weapon, but before she could even lift it off the floor, she was tackled to the ground.

Cell stayed in the kitchenette behind the counter, peeking out, hardly able to move.

 _Come on! Almost there! I can't let these primitive fools do away with_ _ **my**_ _caretaker! She's far too useful to me still!_

What's worse: if they found _him_ , especially in this state, he could easily die. He wasn't sure his pupa exoskeleton which had fully hardened right now would be able to withstand normal human violence. No chances could be taken if he were to successfully achieve perfection. He was just as helpless as Goula is.

The two men wrestled with her, slapping and punching her to try and get her to stop. Thrashes and kicks kept them just at bay from taking her pants off. One drop-kick from a laying position sent one flying towards the door, which wasn't very far in this tiny apartment. The other still held her down, screaming obscenities at her as well as sexist and misogynistic slurs in an attempt to at least break her spirit. She was becoming more of a chore rather than another body count for them.

A sloppy, smacking-like noise came from the kitchenette.

The creep holding Goula down looked over after hearing it, "What was that?"

His buddy didn't bother to pay any attention and was more focused on getting back at the woman for launching him off her like that. He jumped back on top of her and held a knife to her throat, "If you wanna live, bitch, you'll hold the fuck still!" But she thrashed anyways, and he'd cut the side of her face as a warning, his other hand trying to undo her pants regardless.

Unfortunately, he succeeded in not only unfastening her pants, but also taking them off, her underwear came halfway off her behind in the process. The potential-if not having done this before-rapist relished in his newest opportunity.

He suddenly shouted, unsure if it was a kind that would make him vomit or if it was out of fear. All she saw was that he had frozen in what she could now identify as agony on the man's face. His vocalizations began to fade as he now began to look like he was shriveling up, shrinking back into his clothes until there was nothing of him left.

Creep number two that once held Goula down had now let go of her and back up. She had looked up at the source of the first creep's demise, finding a tall, insectoid-looking being who was using his tail to drink the human up. She couldn't move.

The second creep tried, but the tail was as fast as lightning, and shot into his side as he tried to dip out the door around him. Just as the first guy, he was also drunk up like a thick soup, writhing in agony.

Of course, it was Cell. He had emerged from his pupa just in time to help, and drinking up those two humans did provide quite a bit of energy for him, but he knew this would not be acceptable in his caretaker's eyes if he were to achieve perfection incognito. But staring down at her, she must think she's next, and she can't move out of fear.

In an effort to show he meant no harm to her, he knelt down, picked up her pants and held them out to her, making sure his tail remained behind him. Goula glanced at her pants in his hand before slowly taking them, not removing her gaze from him in case he were to try something.

His hand went to rest on his knee as she put her pants back on, making sure she kept watch of where he was and what he was doing.

"I'm not going to hurt you", he finally said. The fact that he spoke made her jump a bit.

"Thank you", she finally told him.

"I'm sorry I took so long", he looked over at the kitchenette, "My pupa stage took longer than expected."

She glanced at the kitchenette, then back to him before getting up to check on her unidentified pet. All she found was a split open shell of what used to be the four-legged creature she had raised this whole time. Then she looked back at him. All he gave back was a bit of a smile, hoping she wouldn't take it as a smirk considering it was painful for him to hold one back.

 _If only you knew who you were caring for._

"I promise I won't drink anymore humans unless absolutely necessary", that was a promise he aimed to keep. He had to. Otherwise, Goku and company would find him out before he achieves perfection. "I happen to like the food you give me, anyways." Another truth, though he hated it. He felt imperfect, having to rely on ingesting something in order to sustain himself. It was too primitive for his design, but a backup plan for what had happened that ensured his resurrection. Cell only hoped that he wouldn't be enslaved to the power of taste and hunger and-dear Kami- _food cravings_.

"You can _talk_ ", she finally said to him, after realizing the similarities between what he became now and the shell of what he once was.

"Of course I can. I'm an abandoned science experiment. I don't know my creator", he lied, "But I do know that you have chosen to take care of me. For that, I am grateful. But I am not finished."

"Finished?"

"The form you see me in now is not the end of my metamorphosis. I'm merely more capable of helping myself, now. However, I enjoy your company more than I previously expected."

She finally approached him on her own, no longer trying to place as much distance between herself and this remarkable creature, "So, what _are_ you, exactly?"

"I don't know", he lied again, "I don't even know my own creator. All I know is that I am not done yet."

"How many more changes?"

"Just two. Two more and I'll be perfect."

"Perfect? Okay, then what?"

Ooh, how he wanted to answer that one truthfully, "I don't know", he nearly cringed saying that, "But we'll have to wait and see. It's an urge; a drive that I cannot ignore."

"I see. Well, how do you plan on achieving the perfect form?"

"What you've been doing so far is fine. Provide me with a home and food, and I'll keep changing."

"I'll see what I can do, then. I just hope that I can afford to feed the two of us considering your size right now."

 _Excellent! She has taken the bait and ate my lies right up! How gullible of her! As long as I play guard dog and best friend, then she'll buy anything that I say! I can't wait to see the look on her face when the truth finally comes out! But not yet. I still need her ignorance. I must stay hidden for a little while longer. This is almost_ _ **too**_ _easy!_


End file.
